Our country is drowning in medical debt, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made things worse. The average COVID-19 treatment bill with insured individuals is $30,000. To those who are uninsured it is $70,000. What’s worse, 7.7 million people have lost their employer-sponsored insurance, along with 6.9 million dependents, adding to 14.6 million who are uninsured.
This past week, Grace Episcopal Church partnered with RIP Medical Debt, a non-profit that empowers donors to forgive billions of oppressive medical bills, and was able to forgive a $100,000 medical debt of an individual! Imagine to have the immense burden of a monumental debt forgiven, erased in a moment with this simple phrase: “Congratulations! Your medical debt burden has been lifted!”
Grace Church received this message after partnering with RIP Medical Debt to erase someone’s debt:
"I want to say thank you so much from my entire soul. Through my struggles, I was unable to pay this bill, and appreciate so much when I saw this letter that you have taken care of this for me. I was very saddened that I couldn't fulfill my obligation in paying this debt off. I was so elated to see that this debt has been paid in full. I am truly thankful and I can thank you over and over again. I am humbled and grateful. Thanks to everyone involved that made this happen. Whew, tears are flowing."
RIP Medical Debt has forgiven close to 3 billion dollars in debt, giving people a fresh start. We are joyful to have been a part of one small but significant part of this effort to lift the burden of medical debts. It reminds us of the debt that has been forgiven by our Lord Jesus Christ, where our debt of sin is wiped away as a free gift of God’s grace, so we can begin afresh with Him.
